It's time once again for football fans to load up for Thanksgiving Day – or as they like to call it in Canada, “Thursday.” People don't waste much time with their holiday NFL picks. Our consensus reports at press time show incredible amounts of gravy being poured over the Dallas Cowboys. We're talking an average bet size of $1,193 on America's Team. And that's for what should be a very tough Week 12 matchup (4:30 p.m. ET, CBS) with the undefeated Carolina Panthers.

So much for big money being sharp money. Carolina opened this contest as a slight road dog (PK +105) on our NFL odds board, and 61 percent of first responders jumped on the Panthers, driving the spread as high as –2 for the visitors. Yes, that deluge of Dallas money is coming from about one-third of the marketplace. Who ever thought Tony Romo would become this popular?

This Bird Is Dry
That's nothing: Try Mark Sanchez. The Philadelphia Eagles are first up on Turkey Day, and despite losing back-to-back games since Sam Bradford (concussion, shoulder) was hurt, the Eagles are pulling in 95 percent of the action at press time for Thursday's early game (12:30 p.m. ET, FOX) with the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. The average bet on Philly: $1,159. My word.

Again, don't be fooled by the big bucks. Our early consensus reports showed a slight lean toward the Lions (PK +105), and they held onto that slim majority even as the Eagles moved up to –1 at a handful of our featured online sportsbooks. This game isn't even getting half the volume of the Panthers-Cowboys tilt, but the betting public has opened up for the large-market Eagles just the same.

Rack of Ram
Moving beyond the sweet potatoes and stuffing, there were two teams pulling in 100 percent consensus when the Week 12 lines first hit the board. The New York Giants opened at PK –120 for their important NFC East road game against Washington, and the G-Men are still holding onto 71 percent of bettors after moving to –2.5. The other unanimous pick: the St. Louis Rams, who opened as +10 road dogs versus the Cincinnati Bengals. Sharps and their double-digit dogs, amirite?

Well, sometimes. The San Francisco 49ers are 10-point home dogs against the Arizona Cardinals, but 58 percent of first responders were on Arizona. Nobody here at the ranch wants to touch the Niners anymore after their latest swerve, falling 29-13 to the Seattle Seahawks as 14-point road dogs; however, at least one intrepid bettor has made a $1000+ wager on San Fran, according to our consensus figures. Maybe Christmas will come early for someone this year.